20 JULY 1985, page 33

The West Still Declining

Bohdan Nahaylo HOW DEMOCRACIES PERISH by Jean-Francois Revel Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £12.95 T his is a powerful and pugnacious work, even if the subject — the West's......

Delightful, But Depravity's Not There

Philip Glazebrook OXFORD BOOK OF AGES chosen by Anthony and Sally Sampson OUP, £8.95 L ike the album known to contain a photograph of yourself, the Oxford Book of Ages, with its......